Torpedo guard or shield



H. SANTULU.

TORPEDO GUARD OR SHIELD. APPLICAHON FILED JULY I6. 1919.

20 WW 236 55 H WITNESS INVENTOR A TTUHNE Y Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

HENRY SANT'ULLI. OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

TOEPEEO GUARD GR SHIELD.

Application filed July 16,

To (all er /"mm it may co more Be it known that l, llnivnr SANTULLI, acitizen of the United States, and resident of the borough of Brooklyn,county of Kings,

' and city and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Torpedo Guards or Shields, of which the following is aspecification.

The device has for its purpose the protection of the ship againstshelling and for that purpose, the outstanding barriers are arranged andconstructed in such a manner as to receive the shells and allow them toexplode at a distance from the ship sufficiently great to make theminelfcctive as destructive agents.

A further object of'the invention is to provide a means of the characterdescribed and for the purposes set forth which. means can be readilyrepaired should it be damaged.

The construction and operation of my dev'ce will be fully set forth asthe specification progresses.

The following is what I consider a good means of carrying out myinvention and the accompanying drawing should be referred to for acomplete understanding of the speci iication which follows In thedrawings Figure 1, shows in side elevation the dia gram of a ship uponwhich my guard is secured.

Fig. 2, is a top plan View of the guard.

Fig. 3, a sectional view of the guard and the side of the ship to whichit is attached.

Fig. 4, a small detail of an elevation, this detail is an end elevation.

Fig. 5, shows a detail in side elevation.

Similar reference numerals indicate like parts in all of the figureswhere they apear.

The ship to which my device is attached may be of any ordinaryconstruction, shape or size, and as it is not necessary to modify theconstruction of the ship, I will indicate by the reference character 1the ship shown in diagram in Fig. 1, allowing the character 1 toindicate the whole ship.

Arranged adjacent to the sides of the ship are plates 2 extending thefull length. of the sides and although in the drawing 1 have illustratedonly one plate and the parts sup porting it and adjacent thereto, itwill be understood that all of the parts described are duplicated at theother side of the ship.

The plate 2 which may he of armor or Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

1919. Serial No. 311,151.

other suitable material extends the full length of the ship and proiectsslightly be yond each end thereof, and this plate 2 may be made upof aseries of sections secured together in such a manner as to produce oneintegral unit.

The lower end of the plate 9. is secured to the ship by the means of ahinged block 3 and I provide a series of these blocks probably spaced.10 or 20 feet apart.

The plate 2 extends downward from the ship at an angle and this anglemay be determined by the conditions or requirements. Probably a platearranged at an angle of approximately 50 degrees will be found mostserviceable.

High up on the plate and spaced apart. are a plurality of guides 4 andenga ed in or upon these guides is a plunger 5. X cylinder 6 which mayextend through the side of the ship 1 contains a spring 7 and at theinner end. of the cylinder 6, I provide an air outlet 8 controlled by avalve 9. When the plate 2 is moved inward its movement will becontrolled by the spring 7 and by the discharge of air past the valve 9.The spring 7 may be relatively weak, intended merely to urge the plunger5 outward. The discharge of air may from time to time be regulated sothat the pressure required to move the plate 2 backward may beapproximately the same regardless of the resistance to this movementwhich may result from corrosion or from the fouling of the parts.

Supported upon the plate 2 are a plurality of guides and these guidesare shown in end elevation at 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14: in Fig. 2. Andbetween each pair of guides is a movable plate indicated at 15, 16, 17,18,

19 and 20 in Fig. 2.

These plates 15 t 20 inclusive, are movable vertically in theirrespective guides, and I may provide flexible members 2121 connectingeach plate and its next adjacent plate for a purpose that shall appearlater.

A series of rollers 22-422 arranged upon the top of the plate receivethe flexible members 2121 and as these flexible members are engaged toadjacent plates, the operation will be as follows. lVhen the plate 17 ismoved downward the plates 16 and 18 will be elevated and when the forcewhich causes the plate 17 to move downward is no longer effective, theplates 16 and 18 will return the plate 17 to its normal conditions.

In Fig. 4, I show a back plate 23 pro vided with a channel This backplate 23 is similar to the plate 2 thougli provided with a plurality ofchannels 24. One channel is at about midwidth of the movable plates. Thesmaller detail in Fig. 5 shows this construction and in this detail, asmall portion of the plate 23 is shown having two channels 24: and 25,and only two movable plates 26 and 27 are indicated in this detail.These plates are connected by a flexible member 28 passing over therollers 29 and 30 and it is my intention in this construction that theplates along the side of the boat should be similarly connected inpairs, each one of a pair serving as a balancing or returning member forthe other plate of the pair.

From the foregoing description, it is thought that the operation of mydevice will be fully understood, However, i will briefly describe theoperation referring to the parts generally by their referencecharacters.

A boat equipped with my completed device which consists oi a pair ofplates 2, one arranged at each side of the hoat and all of the otherparts supported and adjacent thereto, is the subject of attack bysubmarine or other enemy craf nd a torpedo discharged at this boat wille one of the plates arranged along the side and the force of the impactof the torpedo will be less ned, at the same time the angulararrangement of the entire guard will cause the plate which receives theblow to move downward and when the force of the blow has been spent, theplate struck will again return to its normal position.

It will be noted that the exposed surface of the guides to let inclusiveare tapered. This will tend to deflect a torpedo from the stationaryportion of my device.

The plate 2 or the guard proper may be made in a series of sections itdesired as indicated by the lines 31 and 32, but I prefer the whol asshown and described.

Having carefully and fully described my invention, what I claim anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A torpedo guard having apivoted plate and a plurality of vertically movable plates thereon, thealternate plates being connected together to move oppositely in unison.

2. A torpedo guard having a plate hingedly connected to the side of aship and 'a plurality of vertically movable plates thereon, guides forsaid plates and means for returning said vertically movable plates tonormal position after each movement.

3. A torpedo guard consisting of a plate extending along the side of aship, a plurality of hinges securing said plate to said ship, pluralityof pistons and cylinders bet veen said plate and said ship and adaptedto yieldingly resist the movement of said plate toward the side of theship, a plurality of guides upon said plate and a plurality of movableplates in said guides and flexible means connecting said plates forretaining said plates in said guides.

Signed at New York city in the county and State of New York, this day ofJune HENRY SANTULLI.

